“I can’t help the poor if I’m one of them. So, I got rich and gave back, to me that’s the Win Win.” Jay-Z Feel My Truths, Black Album

I’m a stickler for one liners. The whole song has to be good, but the best songs always have one line that is stapled in your memory from the first time you heard it. That phrase has stuck with me since the first time I heard it.

Is only one Win enough for us? I won that fight, I lost that war T.I.

Let’s give a few scenarios:

We rail about making the rich pay higher taxes, but what is that doing directly for you?

We cry about corporate bonuses, but does that get you any closer to making the kind of money those executives make.

We yell about racism, but we do nothing about stopping the self caused destruction in our own neighborhoods.

We complain about how the government is spending money, but we continue to use credit cards and pay day loans.

When are we going to want a complete domination victory instead of excepting small wins, that in the long run have no real long term effect? Have we really gotten to the point where we are satisfied when someone else is brought down a peg or two, instead of being satisfied we have moved up a peg or two?

Do we actually win anything if you put a higher tax on oil and the price of gas goes up? Yeah, we showed that big oil company, but we also hurt the poor and under privileged trying to keep their house warm.

Create an alternative to gas, make it readily available, and then tax the oil companies. Their massive profits get cut, and the small guy has options, and the country gets a Win Win because we are no longer dependent on foreign oil.

Think about that next time you want some one successful to suffer. Who are you hurting by exuding your hate before you make a plan on first how to improve yourself?